[ 10:49 AM ]
⏪ REW.
"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" i hear as apple and i come in from healing the garden flowers.
it's the most spectacular thing you could lay your eyes on.
it's like magic, but that's not my focus right now. soraya's yelling.
i rush into the livingroom and see soraya on the farthest part of the couch, moving away from matt.
"what's going on?! what did he do?" i ask soraya, preparing my body for an altercation of sorts.
"he's got a fucking phone and has had it this entire time!"
"what?!" i question, looking at matt confused, taking a step back from him.
"i-i can explain," he rushes out.
"hell yeah you will because i'm two seconds from doing shit i'll regret," soraya says, jumping up.
"i had to keep in contact with my girl," matt says turning towards me, still sitting on the couch.
"your girl?" i question, squinting my eyes at him.
is he stupid?!
"i met her three months ago. we were keeping in contact with each other since the whole virus came out."
"you fucking idiot!" soraya yells again. "do you have any- ANY idea what you've just done?!"
"grayson back me up here," he says, looking at me.
"were you not listening when they said who's looking for them?" i ask.
"oh my god! we sent dominic to Them! we sent him straight to Them!" soraya panics, pacing and rubbing her face.
"They don't know i'm with you guys," matt says.
"yeah but we could run for so long," i tell him, shaking my head. "They have more advanced technology than we do."
soraya rubs her hands through her tousled hair.
"oh my god," she breathes. "i could kill you right now," she growls.
"it's my girl! what was i supposed to do?" matt questions. "grayson!"
"i honestly don't know what to tell you," i shrug.
"you clearly have no idea what you've done," soraya says shaking her head. "you single handedly fucked us!"
"no i-"
"you could've been tapped! because police didn't come and question you, doesn't mean they aren't keeping tabs on you!" she explodes.
"i didn't wanna keep her in the dark."
"why didn't you say anything before?!" i ask.
"no one wanted to talk about ourselves until we got to jersey. i didn't think dom would go and leave. i was going to tell you guys!"
"i knew i should've read you!" soraya yells, pointing a finger at matt.
"i didn't do it to potentially put anyone in danger!"
"but you knew the risks and still did it!"
"grayson, please help me out here!"
"i..."
"you're a fucking traitor! everyone WRITE IT ON THE FUCKING WALLS MATT IS A FUCKING TRAITOR!"
"i wanted to keep in contact with my girlfriend!"
"let me guess! you told her everything?!" soraya asks, stopping her pacing and standing in front of matt.
"well... not, everything. i-i didn't tell her about the powers yet."
"fucking don't! are you crazy?!" i yell at him.
"well what the fuck am i supposed to do?!" matt questions, looking between ray and i.
soraya groans loud, rolling her eyes and leaves the group, going to the room she called hers when we first got here.
"i'm not a traitor! i swear!" matt pleads to me, standing up off the couch.
"bro, i'm not gonna sugarcoat it, you're an idiot! dom could be walking into a trap."
"that wasn't my intention man!"
"i know," i sigh, "strangely enough, i believe you, but she's going to take convincing."
"can you talk to her for me?"
"i can try. not like it'll work," i tell him in truth.
no way is she going to forgive this guy for what he's done.
how can someone be that much of an idiot?
"thank you bro."
i head to her room and knock on the door.
"go away grayson."
"may i please come in soraya? we shouldn't isolate ourselves right now."
"go. away."
"we've already had to watch one of our group go off-"
"and another one's a fucking idiot! what's the point?"
"that we don't have time to dismantle the group and pull it back together!" i try the door, finding it unlocked. i push the door open and walk in, seeing soraya sitting on the bed. "you need to learn how to trust! yes, he's a dumbass for keeping his phone but in this moment, we are all we fucking have."
"not for matt. he's got a girlfriend who knows where the hell we are!"
"we've got to trust that everything will go according to plan. we put that energy out, it'll come back ten fold. just trust him. and if shit hits the fan in the end, and you have to take care of things, then you will," i say, looking into her eyes, "what happens when you get to a point where you don't trust me?"
"i wouldn't-"
"this isn't about you anymore," i tell her softly, "theirs an intelligent little girl who's got no one right now but you. she sees something in you. dom sees something in you. i do! matt is trying his hardest!"
"if trying is the thinnest string in the entire world!" she yells, "it's not as easy for me to trust."
"i didn't know whether or not to trust you when you trusted me enough to lay it all out for me. we don't have time to dwell. in six days, we'll have a whole new world to navigate. we've been going through this shit with you and dom; protecting the three of you, despite the fact the government is looking for you. do you see the effort? do you appreciate it? look who's around when you need help. you're not alone."
"i know. i don't want to lose anyone else," she says, voice wavering in the end. "everyone else was being taken away. one by one, so fast! alex, reece, dom! how can i trust anyone when shit keeps changing?"
"that's life? is it not?"
"grayson, i don't know how i got to this point. you're not going through what i am."
"right. i'm not, but like you said, we're all going through our own shit. maybe you need to take your own advice," i tell her, squinting my eyes at her. "shit happens. doesn't mean you quit and give up. you keep moving and you keep learning and teaching."
"who's going to help me?" she questions, looking at me with watery eyes.
"you! who do you listen to always? who convinced me to bring you guys here? who calls the shots?"
"i'm scared," she whispers. "what if i mess up?"
"everyone makes mistakes! it's one of the uncontrollable life lessons. we learn from them. you've got to let your fear go."
"i want to do this right; everything. maybe we can be a community, but what if it gets ruined?"
"then we'll build it back up and make a family," i smile.
she looks at me and smiles. she stands from the bed and wraps her arms around my neck, hugging me close to her. i wrap my arms around the top of her back and squeeze lightly.
"i can't just forgive him gray," she says into my chest, "i can be civil, but that's where i draw the line. he could've really fucked us."
"all i ask is for civil."
we're standing there for quite some time before she pulls away from me, eyes watering.
"what's wrong?" i ask her.
"the plan's started," she whispers.